Going biggerish.. answering both

A) 19

B) Have something about "saving" their favorite pair(s) of shoes. I know it's largely implied by the before/after, but adding something to this effect could fire extra brain cells that have them thinking about specific pairs of shoes to do this with. Add-on, not replacement for before/after.

1) Smth around 25.

2) We can add 2 or 4 A4 folders made from plexiglass or some other plastic, and change pictures of before/after say every week, exhibiting fresh works ;) so it will always grab notice even of those people who've already seen the sign for a few times. They can be glued to the sign so they'll cover roughly 1/2 of it, and the rest will be yours "we do miracle with old shoes" or smth alike ;)

B.) Drop the FREE bomb! "Free estimates" (even though the company likely already does that...) would change the game for sure.

I'm in platonic like with these experiments. Power washing story was great!

A) Rough guess: 13

B) I would think how much more value can the owner do for the by walkers. It could be something in the way:

"Nick (owner) can show you have to polish your shoe to mirror the moonlight in 2 minutes"

Hey Nev,

I really enjoyed this post. I think one of the biggest takeaways here is just how important images can be. And I love the "before and after" concept you've got going on here.

My suggestion would be to get to take over the other sign that's still there, use the same approach and copy but have one sign with women's shoe examples on it and one sign with men's shoes on it.

That way you will grab the attention of men and women much more rather than mixing the two on one sign.

Keep rocking it!

Dan

B) I'd suggest a direct benefit approach, perhaps referencing financials. Why pay XXX for new shoes when your old ones can be as good as the day they were born for XX. (I don't know how much shoe repair costs, but it's an idea, LOL!)

So it takes the "finally telling people what we do" concept, and adds on a direct benefit of the business.

Would take some more designing to fit in properly, though... and perhaps not worth making TOO many signs based on suggestions...

Or you'll end up with a total misery of a split-test going on! :D

How surprised was the business owner when you rocked on up there and said "I wanna make your sign better"?

A) i'm gonna go with conservative 12

B) i think the sign can be improved by showing before/after pics of whole shoes, rather then emphasising the bottom. How often do people look at the bottom of their shoes? Maybe some of mine look just like those before pics, but I simply don't know. I mostly care about how they look on my feet. So maybe put in more pictures like the pink high heel and the dyed boots.

A) 16, I reckon you will double your traffic for sure. But still, it's such a service that I personally would only go there if I knew a.) I had shoes to fix and b.) I could google it and it was the closest, best, cheapest, in my local area.

B) Maybe offer a quick, easy, and cheap shoe shine service for people on a lunch break, before or after work, or for a special occasion. A quick shoe shine hustle is something I would definitely just "walk in" for if I saw it on a sign.

1) I'd say around 18 walk ins

I'm going to guess that it will improve traffic by 100% for the short-term, (therefore 16+ total walk-ins per day), and then level off to a 25% increase once the walk-by traffic gets used to seeing the sign after the next couple of months. (12 total walk-ins).

In any case, I think there is huge value in this type of marketing and advertising. It's a low-cost way to improve "conversions". The saying "small hinges swing big doors" is a perfect example of what you're doing here.

I hope to get updates to this marketing experiment of yours. It would be cool to see you do other similar case studies of more businesses in the local area.

A) My guess would be fewer than 15 but more than 8 as I imagine the shop has been there for years. I'd be surprised if mist people are already aware of it and what it does but just don't need shoes repairing that often, thus the random walk ins.

Anyway, I hope you prove me wrong, I'd love to see 15+ going in off the back of the sign.

1.) 29

2.) WHAT ARE THOOOSEEE?! In Bold big writing at the top... Grabs attention, uses popular internet video, laughs all round, those shoe hospital guys are funny. Im'a give them my money.

17 new walk ins daily.

A call to action special for the first time visitor. 1/2 price on your first service with us, come in and see what we can do for you now

A) 13

B) ouch, Gareth was faster. I'd definitely add a direct benefit sign. I'd cut off some of those and only let, say, first two examples there and add smth like "dont let your shoes die(they call themselves hospital so lets stick to the story), save up to XXX $!"

Or even better - let your shoes live and save up to XXX$

3rd option - "long live your shoes! Save up to XXX$

 

I'd also try to hand out flyers like 300ft down the road to see what happens, or another sign (I guess bilion flyers are kinda costly)

Hi Nev,

A. 17

B. I might have added an additional image with some "Nike Air" sort of shoe to also try to attract younger.

BTW, this is a really great real life example ! When I read the first part of your article 2 days ago I though I would not stop to this shop for sure. Then when I saw the sign you made, I figured out this was because I did not understand what they could do for me, which is much clearer now. Well done. Guy, there are lots of street businesses that would deserve you walk by and help them figuring out what they can improve. Great new "KopyStreet" business ? :)

Will probably double the walk-ins, honestly.

They could throw a big old USP out there.

How they differ from the crowd or....

"Don't go spend all that money on new shoes ... We make your shoes look way better for a fraction of the money"

You get the idea.

Also, this is kind of quirky but they should put a pile of old shoes out with a tombstone. Kind of a shoe graveyard. The tombstone could read: we coulda been saved but no one took us to the hospital. Or something clever like that.

Just to get more eyeballz on the store.

Great post! Look forward to the updates!

a) Assuming 800 walk-by's per day, I estimate the conversion rate to increase from the current 1% to 5%. So that means 40 walk-in's per day with the new sign.

b) I see 2 possible angles:

1. Sell itself on a fast turnaround for the office crowd. For example, "Get your broken shoes fixed within your 30-minute lunch break, or your money back"

2. Position itself as a high end luxury shoe maintenance. For example, "Give your Jimmy Choo's some regular TLC to make them look brand new. Shoe spa for heels. Inquire inside.

A) 32 (4x) going from no good copy to great copy will always works miracles

B) add a money back guarantee --"Love it or your money back"

B) Put something like: We'll revive your dead shoes.

I'm sure people can relate to "dead shoes" haha I know I have some.

Very cool.

B) To attract those people that walk by once or twice every day, a different sign for each day of the week, each targeting a different audience. That way it showcases variety yet also hits a specific audience at least once a week. Ex. for mothers, a before and after of a her child's shoes, and some punchy copy about preserving memories; or for the athlete, lucky sneakers

A- I think it will take awhile to increase traffic, as most people chuck dead shoes, or if they have them, repeatedly forget to bring them with them (that's assuming it is mostly work foot traffic). So I'll pick 12.

B- having had work done on shoes before, a "repairs starting from $X" would be important to me. I've had quotes for work before that have been equal to the cost of the shoes, so not really worth it to me if I didn't love them. Someone else mentioned "save your fav pair of shoes" and that has massive appeal, I would think to many people, not just me.

44 per day.

WOW, marvelous boards Neville! :))

And the guy didn't know anything about your fab initiative?

I take my hat off to you! :)

Cheers,

Ivy

Hi

For sure traffic will double - but why stop there?

Take a page from the great Les Schwab

(his book "Pride in Perfection is GREAT) and advertise

we fix all heels (flats) for FREE. The unreal benefits and payback

are outlined in the book and seen every day at any Les Schwab

tire store. ALSO - ADD "All work guaranteed"

Loved the post!

A. I am thinking that their walk in traffic will at least double to 16 per day!

B. Why not have a before shoe and after shoe mounted on top of the sidewalk sign, (with poles maybe?). I think people can get grossed out by old shoes and just not want to deal with them, but if they see a crappy shoe before and then the fixed up shoe right there next to it in real life they may be inspired to deal with that pair of shoes they've been hiding in their closet, and actually walk in and become a new customer!

You could also do a Halloween themed sign about "Resurrecting the Dead" with the before (Tombstones) and after photos.

How about pictures of the other types of repairs they do such as, luggage, gloves, zippers or even roller or ice skates if they repair the body of those as well.

This way they can more easily attract a much wider scope of customers and maybe even capture the local workers.

Example being that maybe a passerby doesn't care to repair shoes but the baseball glove or a skate can be much more appealing and appreciated. I think many people would prefer to repair a type of equipment over a shoe unless the shoe is special.

I think this would really work and would even bet on it.